Apparatus for continuously winding up a flat strip of material



3 386 677 A. BECKER APPARATUS FOR CON'IINUOUSLY WINDING UP A FLAT STRIP OF MATERIAL June 4, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. L7, 1966 June 4, E

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY WINDING UP A FLAT STRIP OF MATERIAL Filed Jan. 17, 1966 4 Shets-Sheet 2 June 4, 1968 A. BECKER 3,386,677

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY WINDING UP A FLAT STRIP 0F MATERIAL Filed Jan. 17, 1966 v 4 Sheets-Sheet f1 A. BECKER June 4, 1968 APPARATUS FOR ACONTINUOUSLY WINDING U? A FLAT STRIP OF MATERIAL 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 17, 1966 United States Patent 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-56) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for continuously winding up a flat strip of material, comprising a discharge roll over which the strip passes, a pair of upwardly sloping guide rails for supporting a wind-up roll in driven contact with the discharge roll, each of which rails is located entirely on the discharge side of the axis of the discharge roll, adjacent one end of the roll, and each of which comprises a lower fixed portion adjacent to the discharge roll and an upper portion that is carried on a support which is common to the upper portions of both rails, and a guide upon which the support is slidably mounted for downward movement relative to the fixed lower portions of the guide rails, to carry a completed roll on the upper portions of the guide rails to a lower unloading position.

Background of the invention The invention relates to an apparatus for continuously winding up a flat strip of material which is being delivered by a machine such as a calendering, drying or fixing machine, the strip being severed by means of a cutting apparatus after the winding up of a roll, and the winding being continued on a new spindle.

The winding into a roll of a flat strip of material which is being delivered by a machine, for example a calendering, drying or fixing machine, can be effected either 1) directly following the discharge roll of the machine by means of a guide which slopes upward at an angle and supports the wind-up roll, or (2) upon a wind-up roll which is spaced by a fixed distance from the discharge roll.

The first-mentioned mode of operation, as practiced heretofore, has a serious disadvantage in that after a roll of material has been wound up a definite interruption in the feeding of the strip of material must necessarily occur, in order that the completed roll may be removed and replaced by a new wind-up spindle. Also, such an interruption in the operation not only produces a substantial reduction in the capacity of the equipment, but also is extremely undesirable in the case of a fixing machine in view of the danger that damage to the material may occur during the delay.

In order to make possible a continuous feed, in recent times the second arrangement described above has been preferred. With a wind-up apparatus located some distance away, and with some investment in equipment, automatic changing of the wind-up roll can be performed without difficulty, without it being necessary to interrupt the travel of the strip of material, in view of the fact that there is free accessibility from all sides. Such remotely located wind-up apparatus, however, in operating upon material which is subject to stretching, particularly woven material, exhibits a serious disadvantage: since the strip of material in the region between the discharge roll of the machine and the remotely located wind-up apparatus is subjected to a certain definite tension in the longitudinal direction, the strip of material diminishes in width to a very undesirable extent.

Summary of the invention The invention then has for its object to obviate these difficulties of the known apparatus and to provide an apparatus which makes possible a continuous, uninterrupted winding up of the strip of material immediately following the discharge roll of the machine.

These objects are achieved in accordance with the invention by providing directly following the discharge roll of the machine on each side an upwardly sloping guide rail which supports the roll of material that is being formed and which is divided into two parts that are movable relative to one another, the part which is adjacent to the discharge roll being arranged in a fixed position, while the other part with the completed roll of material is carried on a support which is common to such parts of both rails and is slidably mounted upon a guide for downward movement relative to the fixed portions of the guide rails, to carry the completed roll to a lower unloading position, so that the fixed part of each guide rail is available to receive a new Wind-up spindle, and the strip of material can be severed in the region between the discharge roll and the completed roll of material.

This construction makes it possible to move the completed roll of material with the movable part of the guide rail far enough from the discharge roll of the machine so that the strip of material can be severed by means of the cutting apparatus, while at the same time the fixed part of the guide rail already has received a new wind-up spindle so that continuous winding of the strip of material is made possible. By the time when the new wind-up spindle has wound up enough of the strip of material so that the fixed part of the guide rail no longer can hold the new roll of material, the movable part of the guide rail, which in the meantime has ejected the completed roll of material, has returned to its position following the discharge roll of the machine and therefore can receive the new roll.

Details of the invention are disclosed in the following description of an embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus at the stage before the descent of the completed roll of material.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus during the descent of the completed roll.

FIG. 4 is a further side view, in which the movable part of the guide rail has returned to its upper position.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale, which illustrates the storing and the installation of a new wind-up spindle.

Description of the preferred embodiment Only the discharge roll 1 and part of the belt conveyor 2 that supports the flat strip of material 3, which form part of the machine, such as a calendering, drying or fixing machine, connected to the wind-up apparatus of the present invention are illustrated in the drawings. The discharge roll 1 is supported in a frame 4 which also carries the various elements of the wind-up apparatus embodying the invention.

The wind-up apparatus comprises a two-part guide rail, the fixed part 5 of which is mounted on a bracket 6, the position of which can be adjusted transversely to the strip of material on a cross bar 7 which is secured to the frame 4. The other part 8 of the twopart guide rail is movable relative to the fixed part 5 and is mounted on a bracket 9, the position of which is adjustable transversely of the strip of material upon two rods 10. These rods are supported in a guide 11, which is slidably mounted upon a guide rod 12 that is slightly inclined from the vertical.

Also included in the wind-up apparatus embodying the invention is a receiving surface 13 which is supported by a bracket 14 that is adjustable transversely of the strip of material on rods 15 which themselves are mounted in feet 4a forming part of the machine frame 4.

The elements of the wind-up apparatus embodying the invention which have been described, including the two parts 5 and 8 of the guide rail, the receiving surface 13 and the parts associated therewith, are duplicated on the opposite side of the strip of material.

The wind-up apparatus also comprises a cutting apparatus which is shown only schematically in the drawings and which for example may consist of an electrically heated filament 16 and two plungers 17 arranged at both ends of the discharge roll 1.

The wind-up apparatus further comprises a suitably driven tension roll 18, which is arranged somewhat below the discharge roll 1, and which rotates in the same direction as the discharge roll but with a somewhat greater peripheral velocity. The tension roll 18 is also mounted in the frame 4. For reversal of the movable part 8 of the guide rail, a limit switch 19 is provided in the lower portion of the apparatus.

The mode of operation of the various elements of the wind-up apparatus embodying the invention which have been described is as follows:

The fiat strip of material 3 as it leaves the discharge roll 1 is wound up on the spindle 2G to form a roll 21. During this operation the spindle 29 is supported upon the guide rails (parts 5 and 8). The roll of material 21 is driven by the discharge roll 1, upon which the roll 21 rests and by which the roll 21 is accordingly driven. During the course of this wind-up operation, the spindle 20 travels from the fixed parts 5 of the guide rails onto the movable parts 8 of the guide rails and continues to travel upward along the movable parts 8.

When the roll of material 21 has attained the desired size, the movable parts 8 of the guide rails and the completed roll of material 21 resting thereon are caused to descend by means of a control apparatus which is not shown in the drawings. It is to be understood that because of the presence of the connecting rods 16, this descent of the movable parts 8 of the guide rails occurs simultaneously at both sides of the strip of material 3.

When the completed roll 21 during this descending movement has reached approximately the position shown in FIG. 3, it is resting against the tension roll 18, by means of which the part of the strip of material when then extends between the discharge roll 1 and the completed roll 21 is placed under tension. At this moment the plungers 17 of the cutting apparatus perform their operating stroke, so that the strip of material 3 is severed in the region between the discharge roll 1 and the completed roll 21 by means of the incandescent wire 16.

Upon further descent of the completed roll of material 21, it is deposited upon the receiving surfaces 13, which are inclined somewhat in the forward direction and on which the roll 21 therefore slides to the position shown in FIG. 4. The brackets 9 of the movable parts 8 of the guide rails continue their downward movement until the limit switch 19 is actuated to cause the driving mechanism to be reversed so that the movable parts of the guide rails are returned to their upper position (see FIG. 4). The length of the receiving surfaces 13 is such that the brackets 9 during their upward movement can pass by the spindle 20 of the completed and ejected roll of material 21.

When the movable parts 8 of the guide rails again reach their upper position (FIG. 4), a new roll of material 22 already is being formed on the fixed parts 5 of the guide rails. The manner in which the spindle 23 of this new roll of material is deposited upon the fixed parts d 5 of the guide rails will now be described with reference to FIG. 5.

The bracket 6 of each fixed part 5 of the guide rails, which is shown on an enlarged scale in FIG. 5, is provided with an apparatus for storing and automatically supplying a new spindle 23. This apparatus comprises a retaining member 24 which is in the form of a latch pivoted upon the axle 25. This retaining member 24 forms, in the position shown in dotted lines, a part of a chute 26 along which the feeding movement of the spindle 23 takes place. The spindle 23, for example, may consist of a wooden spindle covered with a roll of cardboard 23a which in turn is covered with a sheet of material that is coated with adhesive on both sides.

The retaining member 24 is actuated by means of a lever 27 which is pivoted upon an axle 28 and which on the one hand bears against a pin 29 extending from the outer side of the bracket 9 of the movable part 8 of the guide rail, and on the other hand bears against the retaining member 24 by means of a cam 36.

The operation of this part of the wind-up apparatus embodying the invention is as follows:

So long as the movable parts 8 of the guide rails are in their upper position (see FIG. 1), the retaining members 24 are elevated by the actuating levers 27 and thus retain the new spindle 23 in its storage position. Then when the completed roll of material 21 descends with the movable parts 8 of the guide rails (see FIG. 3), the actuating levers 27 move, upon downward movement of the pins 29, to their lower position which is shown in dotted lines (where they are retained by means of stops which are not shown in the drawings), so that the retaining members 24 are swung into the dotted line position under the action of their own weight or of auxiliary springs. Thereupon the new spindle 23 can slide down over the retaining members 24 onto the fixed parts 5 of the guide rails. In this position the roll of cardboard 23a then rests upon the discharge roll 1 and is driven thereby (see FIG. 5). By means of the material coated with adhesive on both sides which covers the cardboard roll 23a, the cut end 3a of the strip of material 3 (see FIG. 3) is Wound up, so that the winding up operation proceeds continuously. While the completed roll of material 21 is being ejected in the manner which has been described, the winding up operation proceeds on the fixed parts 5 of the guide rails. The length of these fixed parts 5 of the guide rails is such that the new roll of material 22 with its spindle 23 is held in a satisfactory manner on the fixed parts 5 of the guide rails until the movable parts 8 return to their normal upper position after ejection of the completed roll of material (see FIG. 4).

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for continuously winding up a flat strip of material, comprising a discharge roll over which the strip passes, wherein the improvement comprises a pair of up Wardly sloping guide rails for supporting a wind-up roll in driven contact with the discharge roll, each of which rails is located entirely on the discharge side of the axis of the discharge roll, adjacent one end of the roll, and each of which comprises a lower fixed portion adjacent to the discharge roll and an upper portion that is carried on a support which is common to the upper portions of both rails, and a guide upon which the support is slidably mounted for downward movement relative to the fixed lower portions of the guide rails, to carry a completed roll on the upper portions of the guide rails to a lower unloading position.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a cutter, located immediately below the discharge roll, which is operable after the descent of a completed roll to sever the strip of material between the discharge roll and the completed roll.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a tension roll which is located below the discharge roll, in a position to engage, upon the descent of a completed roll,

the strip of material which extends around the completed roll, and which is driven in the same direction as the discharge roll, but at a greater peripheral speed to tension the portion of the strip which is being cut.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a support for receiving a completed roll, which is positioned in the path of downward movement of a completed roll that is carried on the downwardly slidable support, to cause the completed roll to be deposited thereon in its downward movement.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the support for receiving a completed roll comprises a pair of surfaces arranged at opposite sides of the path of downward movement of a completed roll, to receive the ends of the roll spindle.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the support for receiving a completed roll is inclined and is of sutficient length so that the completed roll, when deposited upon the support, automatically travels out of the path of the slidable structure which supported the roll in its downward movement, to clear the way for upward return movement of such structure.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support which is common to the upper portions of both rails comprises transverse rods upon which the upper portions of both rails are slidably mounted for lateral adjustment to accommodate wind-up rolls of various widths.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising apparatus for storing an empty wind-up spindle, and for automatically depositing it upon the fixed lower portions of the guide rails when the support for the upper portions of the rails moves downward to carry a completed roll to a lower unloading position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,237,654 4/ 1941 Cohn et a1 242-65 FOREIGN PATENTS 757,475 9/ 1956 Great Britain. 820,388 9/ 1959 Great Britain. 402,561 3/ 1943 Italy. 576,897 5/ 1958 Italy.

WILLIAM S. BURDEN, Primary Examiner. 

